UPSC Prelims 2025 · GS Paper I
Question 16: History and Culture
Who among the following led a successful military campaign against the kingdom of Srivijaya, the powerful maritime State, which ruled the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Java and the neighbouring islands?
AnswerThe answer is (c).
The Chola king Rajendra I sent a naval expedition across the Bay of Bengal to the Srivijaya empire in about 1025 CE, raiding its ports and capturing the king of Kadaram (Kedah). It broke Srivijaya's hold over the trade routes between India and China. Among the other kings listed, the Rashtrakuta Amoghavarsha, the Kakatiya Prataparudra and the Hoysala Vishnuvardhana had no naval campaign against Srivijaya. Remember: Rajendra I, Gangaikondachola, the naval conqueror.
Why each option is right or wrong
- (a) Wrong: Amoghavarsha was a Rashtrakuta ruler without overseas campaigns of this kind.
- (b) Wrong: the Kakatiya king Prataparudra was a Deccan land power.
- (c) Right: Rajendra I Chola led the naval expedition against Srivijaya.
- (d) Wrong: Vishnuvardhana of the Hoysalas was a land-based Deccan ruler.
Explanation: written by UPSC Grade, not by UPSC.
Source: UPSC, Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination 2025, General Studies Paper I, Series A. The paper on upsc.gov.in.